Wish you had a Portal Gun?
by LoDGAsDork
Summary: A freshman in high school is given the opportunity to live out her dream.


"Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss. Smith."

Mr. Mason leers at me, stalking up to my poster. Ah, if only I could test this moron. It would be so entertaining to see how quickly he would go insane...

"What's the little psychopath cooked up this time?"

His unoriginal comment jerks me from my dreams of torment and torture. I look up at him, so many comments, insults, quips, and observances I could throw at him to shut him up. I will never comprehend why they would let a gym teacher judge a science fair. Three times. Winning isn't an issue, even though I know I would if I had actual intelligent beings judging. This project, though is mostly for my own entertainment. And the advancement of science, of course. Every thing I do goes to the advancement of science.

One of the other judges, Mr... Johnson, I think? Epic last name; checks his clipboard. "Lizzy Smith, is it? What have you got to show us today?"

He looks fairly intelligent; maybe even on my level; and very obviously bored. I don't blame him. Most of these projects suck. Though, what do you expect of sophomores? Most, if not all of them, are here because their parents made them enter. I step to the side, letting them view my poster.

"...Wish You had a Portal Gun?"

I grin proudly, very happy with my title. Everything had turned out perfectly on my poster, from the title, with the word You italicized, and the word Portal looking like it came of the front of the game's box, to the project itself. Little did they know, the poster wasn't everything I had in store for them.

Mr. Mason bursts out laughing, stumbling backwards, and I want to slug him up the head for being so rude. It's not like he could comprehend this level of physics anyway. Moron.

"This..." He manages between laughs, "this is... This is such crap! Ha... haha... You honestly think that this could work? Reality check, Miss. Smith, but the world is not a video game!"

I take a deep breath, calming myself. I needed a clear mind for the demonstration, so it was best to just act as though I had already sent Mr. Mason to the test chambers. I reached back behind my poster and pulled out what I had been working on for the past couple of months. Mr. Mason's laughter just grew louder. One year in the incinerator, year two, cryogenic refrigerator...

"This is a science fair, Smith, not a cosplay convention. Put the toy away."

Another deep breath. "It's not a toy, Mr. Mason. It's a prototype."

Mr. Johnson looks generally annoyed with Mr. Mason, and generally intrigued by my Portal gun. "Does it work?"

I suck in a breath. "Mostly."

The other judge, a female who's name wasn't worth remembering, finally speaks up. "Mostly?"

"It's still a prototype, obviously, and not safe. It can only be used by the AB negative blood type."

"My guess is you're an AB negative." Mr. Johnson spoke up.

"Of course."

"What happens if you aren't that blood type?"

"It... depends on the blood type. AB positive, confusion. Sometimes amnesia, but since I've only tested on animals, the results aren't final. B types, it will turn the blood acidic and burn the subject from the inside out." The lady gulps. Probably a B.

"Others, I have yet to test. I think, from what I've seen anyway, that the farther the difference from AB negative, the more aggressive the side affects. So, I'm afraid I can't let you use it. I can, however, demonstrate."

Mr. Mason laughed again. Ten years in the chamber where all the robots scream at you... then, I'll kill him.

"Well, Lizzy, would you like to demonstrate for us?"

"You do realize that this is just going to be a hoax, right? This is complete and utter bull-"

"This is a science fair, Mr. Mason, and if the students have a demonstration then they give it. I will be the judge of whether it is a hoax or not. Now," he said, stepping back, "show us what you've got."

I smile gratefully, before aiming the gun at the floor and shooting a portal at it, and repeating the process right next to it. Then, first looking up at the judges, more to get their approval to move forward in my demonstration than to see if they were watching, I jumped into the one closest to me.

The feeling of traveling through a portal is, by far, the most exhilarating thing I've ever done, and probably will ever do. It's like mixing car sickness, with sticking your head out the window in a car, with five shots of adrenaline. It's always calmingly warm inside the Portal as well, so I know to spread out my legs to keep me from going back in when the cool gym air hits me again. I breathe in and out again, looking up at the judges, smirking at Mr. Mason's shocked, gaping-mouthed expression, matching the female judge's. Mr. Johnson looks impressed, but not shocked. Real geniuses never show surprise. It gives their competition an advantage.

"But... but... It's not blue and orange." Mr. Mason stumbled to find something wrong.

"No, it's not, Mr. Mason. I apologize for not figuring out how to color pure void energy before the fair, but it was not on the top of my list."

Mr. Johnson laughs. I like this guy. I honestly do. He even kind of looks like Cave Johnson, if not a bit younger. He makes a few notes on his clipboard, looking up at the other judge and nodding, before holding it back at his side, Mr. Mason still glaring in between me and the Portals, trying to figure out if there is some way I could have faked it.

"Well, Miss. Lizzy, it certainly has been a pleasure. I'm afraid we have some more projects to look at, but would you mind staying after the science fair to have a word with me?"

"Of course." I nod, and the judges walk over to look at the boy next to me's poster, 'Does watering a plant with soda kill it?' I knew, of course, that the answer was it would over time, but the boy still brought in a healthy looking plant. I shake my head, smirking at his incompetence as I leave my poster, Portal Gun in a box under my table, to find my friend Anna.

"Whohoo! First place, Lizzy! Told you it was fantastic!"

"I knew it was fantastic, but I was assuming the judges would be closed-minded morons. I assumed wrong."

"Yeah, whatever GLaDOS. But, hey, did you see the one judge?"

"Mr. Johnson?"

"Yeah. He was TOTALLY Cave Johnson, right? It'd be awesome if he wanted to ask you to join, like, Aperture or something."

"He's probably just going to give one of those generic, 'You're brilliant and have a bright future' speeches I hear every other Tuesday.

"Way to kill the mood, Liz."

"Don't call me Liz, Annie."

"Whatever. You're coming over to my house tonight, right?"

"Yeah. See you then, Rick."

"Later, GLaDOS!"

Annie heads out the door, jogging to her mom's car and opening the door before waving one last time and getting in. I smile, heading back to my table to make sure everything is packed, standing and lifting the box with my portal gun, when I feel myself being shoved forward. I gasp, fumbling with the box to keep from dropping it. I spin, only to have the box knocked out of my hands and onto the floor. I growl in the pit of my throat, but I don't attack, and simply bend to pick up my box from the jocks.

"What's the problem, emo freak? Can't defend yourself?"

"Sorry nerd. The ComiCon was last Tuesday."

I take a slow breath. Gore and destruction goes to those who wait...

"Skylar, Daniel. How nice to see the two of you? I didn't think I'd find you at an event that required brain cells."

I still get gore and destruction. It would have been a crime not to use a line that good.

Skylar glares, and the both of them stomp off, though I know revenge will come later from them. I hurriedly open my box to make sure nothing is damaged, sighing in relief when I find everything fine.

"You might not believe this, but I was actually bullied as a kid."

I turn, picking up my box, to find Mr. Johnson behind me. Probably the reason that Skylar and Daniel left. "Really?"

"Yeah. I was labeled the nerd, the geek... a lot of things." He leaned against a table, and I set my stuff on the table across from him before sitting on it.

"You know, Lizzy, I see a lot of myself in you. You have a bright future ahead of you."

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Called it.

"And I know this sounds like it's just one of those, 'You're brilliant and have a bright future' speeches, but there's more to it."

I can't keep my eyes from widening a fraction. That caught me off guard.

"You see, the reason I wanted to speak to you is because I was wondering if you would be interested in working for my company."

"Your company?"

"It's called Aperture Science."

"...You're pulling one over me."

"I take it you've heard of it, judging by your poster."

"But that's-"

"A video game?" He chuckled. "Well, I heard a while ago that the best place to hide something was in plain sight."

"...You... you disguised it as a video game so no one would suspect it! That's brilliant!"

"So, are you-"

"Interested? Duh! I'd-" I calm down. Have to look professional. "I'd love to."

He chuckles again. "Great. We'll be needing you right away, I'm afraid. We're in desperate need of someone to oversee human testing. Glad you'll be joining us, Miss. Lizzy."

"Please," I smile, shaking his hand. "Call me GLaDOS."

It's a beautiful feeling, having so much power. No one messes with you when you're in charge. No one bullies you. Everyone just bows to you're command, and goes insane from test withdrawal. I'm awaiting my next subject, when he's let in, his face bringing back old memories, though it has aged some. A PE teacher I will never forget.

"Oh. It's you."


End file.
